Schuurman (finally) Chs. 1-5
May 5, 2008
Ch. 1
This chapter talks about GIS in general. Nowadays, it is becoming more common and recognizable. More fields are using GIS as an everyday program. GISystems and GIScience are talked about, but I talked about them in my midterm. It is used both for categorizing numerical data and to project this data into an easy-to-read map for the average person.
Ch. 2
This chapter talks about how human geographers and GIS combine to produce a something bigger. It also talks about epistemology and ontology. “Epistemology is the lens through which spatial phenomena are observed and studied. Different epistemologies such as positivism, realism, or social constructivism result in the apprehension of different entities or ontologies.”
Ch. 3
This chapter talks about how data can be manipulated to show what the mapmaker is trying to show. It can be used as propaganda. It can also be inaccurate. This happens more often than not. An example of this is the lithography and stratigraphy descriptions from well drillers. Some drillers are trained to identify the different strata, while other are not, causing a discrepancy in the data.
Ch. 4
This chapter talks about using GIS to analyze and model spatial phenomena. It talks about vector and raster data and how GIS differs from cartography in that it can show changes, while a single map cannot because it shows data from a single time. It brings everything from the first three chapters.
Ch. 5
This chapter talks about what you can do with a GIS background. It talks about the many realms of possibilities that include GIS. You’d be surprised at how many different things can be analyzed through GIS. It’s not just map making, it spatial analysis.
